Red stone everywhere

  Fruita, Colorado, United States
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

One of the banes of being married to an artist is the search for the "perfect light". It always occurs at the most inopportune times, dawn or dinner time. Today we were in search of the perfect light in Colorado National Monument.

Entry Sign in the Evening

The Monument is a 20,500 acre area to the south of Grand Junction and Fruita where we were staying. It encompasses a red rock mesa and its canyons that stretch for xx miles and was carved by the Colorado River that flows through the area. John Otto was the person instrumental in getting the land designated a national monument. He single handedly built trails into the area and helped prod the citizens of Grand Junction to write letters to the Congress and President urging them to set aside the land. The monument was finally set up in 1911 and Otto was named the caretaker for the princely sum of $1 per month. In our travels, we have come across park after park that were the dreams of one or two people who loved the land enough and were persistent enough to get something accomplished. Once again, we were able to use our annual US Park Service Pass to enter the park. This has turned out to be a real bargain at $80 per year. Since each park charges from $10 to $25 per car per entry, we've saved a bundle. Even if you don't use it, it's still a good deal since the money goes to support the operation of the parks which are chronically underfunded by Congress.

We got up for the good light (naturally early!) and made our way into the park, even before the entry stations were manned and snaked our way up the switchbacks to the top of the mesa.

Morning Light 1

The early morning sun striking the red rocks and foliage were spectacular, with the light highlighting the colors and the crevasses, cracks, and folds of the rock. We drove through the park, stopping at all of the overlook points to get photos for paintings to come. The road wanders about 23 miles along the top of the mesa and then came back down into Grand Junction. It was time for breakfast at last!

We drove into Grand Junction on Main Street looking for a neighborhood café or diner and found a 1960s throw back at the Main Street Café. They had set up tables outside and we took our seats and perused the menu. They had a breakfast burrito covered with chili verde and cheese that sounded fantastic. Since we've been in the Southwest, I've developed a real taste for good Tex/Mex food. When our breakfast came (Deb had ordered and omelet), I tasted the chili verde and gave Deb a taste as well. She immediately flagged down our waitress and ordered a side of the chile to go with her omelet. It was great! After a leisurely breakfast, we looked around downtown a little and then went back to the RV.

We had decided to stay an extra day but the park we were in had no room. Across the street was the James M Robb Colorado State Park that bordered the Colorado. I wanted to stay there while we were in Fruita, but they had a concert in the park on Wednesday and the promoter bought all of the RV spaces for parking. We couldn't make reservations for Thursday so we were unsure if we could stay or not.

We hung around the RV, Deb making jewelry and me reading and writing. Our intention was to go back up into the monument for the sunset as well.

Afternoon Light

A little before 6PM I looked out and the hills above the campground had begun to glow with the afternoon light. It was time to go (dinner time naturally!). We went back up on the mesa and went to all of the spots we had scouted out in the morning that would be lit with the afternoon sun. Again, it was glorious. You can easily understand how Otto fell in love with this place and wanted to see it protected. We finally turned around and started back when the sun fell below the mesa rim, plunging the canyons below into the evening dusk.